Tuesday, February 02, 2010

As an alumnus of the University of Florida just about all of my sports enthusiasm can be found in my devotion to its college football & basketball programs. Having said that it might make it easier to understand why such a devoted fan as myself of college sports could careless about the professional side of it. At a minimum I haven't watched an NBA basketball game in more than three decades. The public persona's of the players and posturing during this period by the league as it embraced the "gangsta" image as a public relations bridge to their target demographic really served to make me uninterested and somewhat turned off to the whole kabuki theatre aspect of it all. Recent subsequent actions by Wizards star Gilbert Arenas only served to reinforce all those negative images I harbored.

So, when I read Mr. Arenas' article this afternoon in the Washington Post that acted not only as a meaculpa for his actions regarding guns in the locker room but a call to action for himself and others to change their image in the community and undertake the responsible roles they have as public figures my perception of Gilbert Arenas as just another ghetto wannabe gang banger underwent a complete 180. I wish him all the luck I can 'and hope the positive that comes out of this makes a difference to just one kid. Then it will all be worth it.

Monday, February 01, 2010

If the lastest Rasmussen poll for the 2010 Florida Senate race is any indication of Gov. Charlie Crist's support among rank and file Republicans in Florida the race is already over. State Senator Marco Rubio has hardly spent a dime and his growing support among Florida Republicans has finally propelled him past Gov. Crist with such speed and momentum its hard to imagine how the lanky, tanned, and white haired Republican Governor can regain his standing as the favored candidate. Rubio is the current darling of the Florida "tea bagger" movement and everything Crist does and says seems to play right into the hands of the tea party movers and shakers.

Marco Moulitsas of Daily Kos suggests that Crist's only option at this point is to switch parties. I'm not sure how that would set with some of the rank and file state Democrats considering some of the positions he's taken in the past with regard to education, health care reform and off shore drilling. The amazing thing as has already been pointed out is that Rubio hasn't really spent a dime while Crist finds himself down 12 points in Rasmussen and is trailing in the lastest Quinnipiac poll as well. If Crist does make the switch it would be interesting to see how the rank and file Democratic Party would react. At this point though, I'm not holding my breath on that switch over,....at least not yet.

You've got to hand it to the minority house leader, John Boehner, who yesterday made an interesting concession on Meet The Press even though I don't think he meant to. In essence he conceded the U.S. electorate in 2008 wanted a liberal agenda so they chose the "most liberal Senator" in the United States Senate:

"The president is -- well, he was the most liberal member of the United States Senate. You don't get there by accident. And if you look at the policies that we've seen over the course of this year from the administration and his Democratic colleagues in Congress, they're all these leftist proposals."

These "leftist" proposals he's refering to is exactly what Mr. Obama ran on: health care reform, job initiative legislation, reinvestment in our infrasctructure, and etc. These programs requires government spending. Then he goes on with yet another point undercutting his own position:

"Leadership is about standing on your principle and, and opposing those policies that, that we believe are bad for the country. But leadership is also standing up and offering what we think is a better solution."

Exactly. That's what Barack Obama did: he ran on principle and opposed policies he thought were bad for the country in 2008 and the country chose his ideas. As for President Obama being the most liberal Senator in the U.S. Senate I think Al Franken, Russ Feingold, and the late Ted Kennedy (who was alive when the President was running) would out flank the President on that matter.

The point here is that Boehner in a typical talking head Sunday whine wanted to claim that the opposition is trying to implement a "liberal agenda." Well if he believes his own rhetoric then the voting public wanted just that over what he and his colleagues were offering. That debate is over Mr. Minority leader. Continuing to say "no" to every initiative from the opposing party only makes you look even further out of touch with the country.

If by a "Liberal" they mean someone who looks ahead and not behind, someone who welcomes new ideas without rigid reactions, someone who cares about the welfare of the people — their health, their housing, their schools, their jobs, their civil rights, and their civil liberties — someone who believes we can break through the stalemate and suspicions that grip us in our policies abroad, if that is what they mean by a "Liberal," then I'm proud to say I'm a "Liberal."